I suppose that there aren’t too many films made for domestic consumption in New Zealand but I was still very surprised to see that Scarfies won Best Film, Actress, Supporting Actor, Screenplay and Director in 2000. I mean, it was decent, enjoyable, but not that much more than what I’d expect from a low budget Hollywood effort based on the same ideas.
Which are: college students squat in an empty house and discover a big bunch of pot plants growing in the basement, they sell the pot and party with the proceeds only to have the tough guy who set up the plants show up wanting his money. The kids are able to trap him in the now-empty growing room but then have to decide what comes next.
The return of the grower, the turning point in the film, comes about a third of the way in; a classic transition from Act 1 to Act 2. The tone of the movie completely changes too, from college party comedy, to psychological thriller. A Lord of the Flies type situation develops among the five students while the tough ass tries to use whatever divisive chatter he can come up with. That only pushes the students deeper into aggression though.
Overall I found the direction and editing not really up to the quality of even your average art house film; the lack of consistent tone and pace also lost several points as did the subpar production (poor lighting and even sound). Nice first effort for young writer/director Robert Sarkies but he did not go net.
not recommended
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